There is a well established rule, by which one is judged by the company he keeps. No word of explanation need be given, for the companions he selects and in whose circle he moves speak louder than words. The choice of associates is a very important one. As in a vitiated air, it is hard for a strong constitution to escape sickness, so however firm and settled a boy’s principles might be, there is danger of losing them by the influence and example of corrupt companions.
It is said to be a property of the tree-frog to acquire the color of any object to which it adheres for a short time. Thus if found on growing corn it is commonly a dark green, and if found on the white oak, it has the color peculiar to that tree. Just so is it with boys. One usually resembles those with whom he associates and becomes like them. Unconsciously he takes on their image, thinks and acts like them, and is a just photograph of them. If the companions are of high moral standard they will prove a blessing, but if slovenly and unclean in appearance, unbecoming in language, impolite in action, they will be a curse. The boy who associates with these invites an unsavory reputation; and sooner or later, no matter what excellent qualities he may have, will be contaminated as is silver when kept in contact with copper.
IMPOSSIBLE TO BE GOOD AND KEEP BAD COMPANY.
In no little degree is one influenced by the speech, manners and habits of companions. “Is example nothing?” asks Edmund Burke. “It is everything. Example is the school of mankind, and it will learn at no other,” he answers. It is because of this that many lawbreakers come from the best families through evil associations. “May it please the Court,” said a convicted criminal when asked if he had anything to say before sentence of death was passed upon him, “bad company has been my ruin. I received the blessings of good parents, and in return promised to avoid all evil associations. Had I kept my promise, I should have been saved from this shame and been free from the load of guilt that rests upon me. I, who once moved in good society, am lost, and all through evil companions.” Many inexperienced boys form the idea that by associating with rough, fast lads they might influence them to be better, or by seeing the evil effects would learn to abhor wickedness the more. These thoughts are foolish in the extreme, and if put into practice, deprave nine times out of ten.
There is a poisonous reptile mentioned in “In Tropical Africa” that has lived so long in a certain colored gravel that it has taken on the exact color, so that a traveler cannot distinguish the one from the other unless the reptile moves. To come in contact with it is to risk one’s life. So the boy who wilfully courts the company of the bad risks the safety of his character, for “vice,” as Pope said,
“—is a monster with such frightful mien,
As to be hated, needs but to be seen;
Yet, seen too oft, familiar with its face,
We first endure, then pity, then embrace.”
Chemists tell us that one grain of iodine imparts color to seven thousand grains of water. One bad boy may do more to injure one’s character in a day than a lifetime can remedy. Goodness and badness will associate no more than light and darkness. A rotten apple will corrupt a barrel of good ones, but a barrel of good ones will not restore a rotten one. Separation is the only safe plan.